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Talwandi Sabo shootout
Parking trouble for Panchavati Nagar residents
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Another child drowns in Rose Garden water tank
Last day for 92 schools to pay sports fund
Snatcher nabbed by police
Survey points to high incidence of diabetes
School holds annual day function
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Political rivalry claims two lives
Gurdeep Singh Mann Tribune News Service
Talwandi Sabo, November 16 Saturday evening turned violent with a volley of continuous rounds of bullets in Kothi Wala Rah area of Talwandi Sabo where nine persons, armed with sophisticated weapons arrived in two SUVs and opened fire indiscriminately. Two local residents, including Nachhattar Singh (48) and Balveer Beera (35), were killed while another Angrez Singh was hit by a bullet in his thigh. Balveer received umpteen bullets in his body and died on the spot while Nachhattar who was hit by a bullet in his head and other body parts was pronounced dead on way to a higher medical institution near Bathinda. As per Jasvir Singh, complainant in the case, the accused arrived in a Skoda, Duster and Tata Safari vehicles while he along with his uncle and cousin were standing outside his residence around 8.30 pm. “The bickering was on between both the groups ever since the Municipal Council elections of Talwandi Sabo when we got a case registered against Manpreet Manna,” Jasvir said. He termed Manna a notorious criminal already wanted in some other similar criminal cases in and around Talwandi Sabo. He said that both the groups are patronised by senior Akali leaders and enjoy political support. Though the police registered a case against nine persons, including six by name and three unidentified, the irate area residents and family members of the deceased decided to protest against the deteriorating law and order situation. The family members were pacified with immediate arrest of three persons and assurance to arrest the rest at the earliest by dispatching special police parties. The cremation of one of the deceased, Balveer Beera, took place, late in the evening amidst deployment of heavy police force. Deceased Nachhattar’s nephew, Jasvir Singh said that it is difficult to comprehend for the area residents and the family members of the deceased how a group of nine people, armed with sophisticated weapons, in two SUVs roam around without any check. Jasvir said that his uncle’s son—Pargat Singh — was kidnapped by the opposite party a few months ago in Bathinda following which a case was registered against Manpreet Manna and a few others. They were trying to pressurise the complainants to withdraw their statements in the court to reach a compromise. “Upset over the delay in compromise and not listening to them, they fired a volley of shots in the evening which lead to the death of two persons, including Nachhattar—a driver and a labourer—Balveer Beera,” Jasvir said. Interestingly, some of the family members of the nine accused in the case, too, levelled allegations against the victims and said they too came under attack and one of their cars was set on fire. Gursher Singh, SHO, Talwandi Sabo, said statements of both the parties are being verified and action would be taken accordingly. “Our first priority is to bring the situation under control by arresting all the accused persons and seizing the vehicles and weapons used in the crime,” he said.
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Parking trouble for Panchavati Nagar residents
Bathinda, November 16 Despite two designated places for parking of cars of the visitors to the place, the roads inside the residential area are often, especially on weekends, used for parking. Surprisingly, despite there being a parking lot right in the basement of the place, the visitors prefer to park their vehicles outside in the open. While the basement parking of the mall remains underutilised on almost all days, the parking lot opposite the mall is also usually full. “Earlier, people used to park their cars outside despite there being space inside our parking area. Those who roam around in huge swanky cars and don’t think twice before spending on shopping and watching films in the theatre don’t have the heart to spend Rs 50 for parking their vehicles,” said one of the caretakers of the private parking lot opposite the mall. He further added that only after a couple of cases of car thefts were reported from the area that the visitors turned to his parking lot. “People even enter into heated arguments with the residents of Panchavati Nagar over parking their vehicles outside others’ house,” he added. Janak Raj Garg, president of the Panchavati Nagar Residents’ Association said, “Fed up with the problem of illegal parking outside our houses, we had approached the traffic police which put up ‘No Parking signs’ in the area but never came back to the area to take stock of the situation.” Other residents of the area opined that the parking problem is compounded on holidays and festive season when the residents of the nearby villages and towns also flock to the city and spend hours inside the mall. “Adding to the problem are the sellers of knick-knacks who keep roaming the road outside the mall thereby adding to the congestion on the road,” said Rakesh Gupta, a resident of the area. The traffic police of the city that sometimes enthusiastically carries out drive against wrongly parked vehicles, turns a blind eye when it comes to the road outside the mall. “Vehicles always crowd the side of the road outside the mall almost always despite the traffic police putting up a ‘No Parking’ sign there. Ironically, caring two hoots about the signage, cars are parked so that the board is not visible at all,” said Harinder Singh, a resident of Panchavati Nagar. |
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Another child drowns in Rose Garden water tank
Bathinda, November 16 The deceased has been identified as Mohit Kumar, a student of Class II. His family members said the father of child died sometime ago and he had one elder brother and four sisters. Earlier, too, a child was killed after he fell into a water tank similarly around a month ago. Despite the deaths, the authorities concerned appear to have failed to take any action in this regard to secure the area from the children. One of the volunteers of NGO Sahara Jan Sewa rushed for help and jumped into the water and took the boy out but he was pronounced dead by doctors at the Civil Hospital, Bathinda. The child was taken to the hospital in the ambulance of the NGO but the volunteers failed to save him. As per the reports, the child was a resident of Parjapat Colony and had come to play near the Jogger’s Park where he incidentally slipped into the water tank. Vijay Goyal, president, Sahara Jan Sewa, demanded deployment of round-the-clock security around the water tanks and raising of its boundary walls so that such incidents should be curbed. He accused the district administration and the officials of the department concerned over the casual attitude adopted in this regard due to which two precious lives of the children are lost. |
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Last day for 92 schools to pay sports fund
Bathinda, November 16 The fund is supposed to be used to organise the district-level school sports competitions. As per a circular sent to all the school principals, in-charges and headmasters, the schools had been directed to pay the sports fund to the department by November 14 but owing to the non-compliance with the order by 92 schools, the department thought it best to extend the date till November 17, Monday. “We have extended the last date for submission of money towards the fund till November 17. In case the schools still fail to abide, we will be left with no option but to take departmental action against the schools. The schools will have to either pay up or tell the department the reson behind their failure to do so,”said AEO (sports), Pavittar Kaur. Interestingly, the list of defaulter schools includes those schools as well that haven’t paid the sports fund for the last five academic sessions. While the private schools are gearing up to pay the money, in-charges of some of the government schools have their own reasons for not being able to pay the money and argued that they were cash-strapped and hence, had failed to pay the money towards the sports fund. “The Education Department knows that the government schools are always short of funds and often don’t even have money to pay the electricity bills due to which sometimes the power connections of the schools are also snapped. In such a case, where will we gather the money to pay sports funds for the past five academic sessions,” said principal of one of the government schools. In-charge of another government school added that often the schools teachers pay from their own pockets to help students make models and other items for competitions which are organised frequently because the education department sends no funds for such competitions although it should. Sometimes, we have to request non-government organisations and donors to help us towards paying electricity bills and also provide uniforms to the students since the education department’s funds come too little and too late, the in-charge added on the condition of anonymity. |
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Snatcher nabbed by police
Jalandhar, November 16 Neeru, a resident of
Banga, had come for shopping in Jalandhar. While she was walking near Bhagat Singh Chowk, the bike-borne snatcher pounced on
her and snatched her purse containing cash and valuables. Neeru immediately raised an alarm and informed the police about the incident. After a few minutes, the snatcher was nabbed near the Madan Floor Mill chowk and her purse was recovered. The snatcher was identified as Hitesh, a resident of Quilla Mohalla. |
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Survey points to high incidence of diabetes
Bathinda, November 16 At the two-day camp, the Health Department detected 106 diabetics on Friday and 150 on Saturday. An ongoing survey conducted by the non-communicable disease (NCD) clinic to check blood pressure, hypertension and diabetes among the urban population under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) has raised eyebrows. The survey has screened 26,691 people, including 10,299 males and 12,893 females in the 20 -60 year age-group while 1,395 females and 1,409 males above 60 years of age have been screened. The NCD staff has found 1,711 patients of hypertension, including 637 females and 489 males. Similarly, around 2,256 people were detected with diabetes, including 933 females and 654 males. Besides, 303 males and 15 females who consume tobacco and alcohol have also been detected whereas 22 cases of cancer have been detected. Six males and 16 females are suffering from cancer. Experts claim that according to a report, around 70,000 Indian children under the age of 15 suffer from Type 1 diabetes, while 40,000 have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Tackling diabetes
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Fogging, awareness drive need of the hour
Dengue has been a big problem for many years and the health authorities are not working on it properly. Fogging is not being done in many areas of the city, especially where water accumulates again and again. An awareness drive on a large scale should be carried out by the health authorities or a team should be constituted to spread awareness on the issue. Amandeep Singh Locals should be given training to tackle it
Awareness about the disease is one of the major preventive measures. Politicians and government officials should speak on it. Local leaders should also be involved. People should be made aware of dengue mosquitoe and its birth. The government should also give advertisements in papers besides placing banners and flexes. NGOs should also start an awareness campaign against dengue. The Health Department should carry out fogging every day. Besides, the locals should be given training to spray and medicines should be given free of cost. Mandeep Singh Hans Follow dengue cases
Health Department officials do not visit the house of a person suffering from dengue as is mandatory in such cases. They should not be non-serious about it and must approach the patient so that the other members of the patient's family could be saved. My friend, who is a teacher in a private school, suffered from dengue but the health officials did not reach the house for fogging and within a week, his son caught the disease. Both were admitted to Civil Hospital. Rahul Kumar Accumulation of water a major worry
Fogging should be done in all areas of the city and medicines should be sprayed in stagnant waters. Besides dengue, malaria is another threat in this season. Stagnant water accumulates at a number of spots in the city. The government collects taxes but it seems that it do not spend on the welfare of people. Sanjeev Kumar Give research a boost
A foreign scientist has discovered the predator for the dengue mosquito and the Indian Government should take steps as the predator of these mosquitoes could easily consume their larva in the water. Dengue is a serious threat today and has claimed many lives in the recent few years. Abhishek Kumar Provide adequate infrastructure
The Bathinda administration has spent a lot of money on fogging but they do not visit the areas regularly. The mosquitoes do not end by fogging once a week. Fogging should be carried out two to three times. Constant fogging and awareness about the problem will help us in getting rid of the problem. The state government should provide treatment free of cost at hospitals. The needed infrastructure should be provided to the district hospitals so that no patient is referred to Ludhiana or Chandigarh for treatment in such cases. Darshan Jaura |
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Students participate in cleanliness drive
Bathinda, November 16 Tarun Kumar, coordinator of The Little Millennium, took the pledge of cleanliness along with the students, staff, guests and residents of the town. Anju Nagpal flagged off an awareness rally. The drive was joined by the students, Rajendra Public School staff, Panjuana Sirsa, and The Sirsa School, Sirsa. The school also distributed 400 dustbins among the residents and urged them to keep the town neat and clean. Vaneet, coordinator of The Millennium School, delivered the vote of thanks. |
School holds annual day function
Bathinda, November 16
Harmanjit Singh, manager, regional office, PSEB, Bathinda, was the chief guest on the occasion while Dr JS Anand, principal, DAV College, was the guest of honour.
Students presented giddha, bhangra, action songs, as well as the play ‘Laila Majnu’ which left a deep impact on the audience. School principal Jaswinder Kaur welcomed the guests. |
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